Even in Tory-land, the corporate welfare gravy train continues to roll... and the track runs all downhill, from the taxpayer's perspective. Check out this story about Harper supporting ACOA funding.
Why is corporate welfare bad? Let me count the ways....
read the rest of this story at www.macleans.ca/kheiriddin
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Corporate Welfare Rides Again
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5 comments:
Ms. Kheiriddin is not the only person to react this way regarding the Harper announcement about ACOA. Andrew Coyne said pretty much the same thing, and I agree with both of them.
But you can't expect to get seats in an election from an area that is now moving into it's 3rd generation of people who expect these type of government programs. Every politician know what happened to the Chretien Liberals in the 1997 federal election when they announced a cut back in EI premiums. There was a surge in PC's elected leaving the area almost completely devoid of Liberals. There is no way that Stephen Harper could go to the Maritimes and announce he was going to cut ACOA without killing whatever chance he has of getting Conservatives elected.
Let's get the CPC into power then hold them to their word about being accountable to the taxpayers by eliminating these tax sinkholes like ACOA. But in order for this to be successful you also need to ensure that the cycle of government handout dependency is broken at the same time. If you can't do both then the next time the election rolls around the person throwing the most money their way will get the seat.
People want change as long as it doesn't affect them, so you are better to do it slowly so they can adjust. Keep in mind that we have had for the past 6 years a Liberal government that has throw taxpayers money at everything just to make it go away, with no regard to how it was spent, as long as it kept them in power. And it's not just in the Martimes but everywhere, and the battle is going to be a very long & loud before the CPC will be able to change the "attitude of entitlement" that people have.
Forget the politics of this for a moment - and Herper's announcement is pure politics, I am quite sure.
Nothwithstanding everything you've said (all quite right, in my view), you have neglected to address the very real issue of how this plays out in a free trade environment. If GM, Ford, you name it, doesn't get their money here they will almost certainly get it in Tenessee or Mississippi or you name it.
This problem will not be solved until it is dealt with on a more global level. For Canada to singularly say enough is enough would be self defeating.
Point taken, Mike, but look at agricultural subsidies. Under the Tories, Canada could be a real leader in reducing them and pushing for reform internationally. Instead, like regional development, it's status quo. Sigh.
The point is that this will only be acheived through international trade agreements. Agriculture included. Canada taking a unilateral leadership position would be plain stupid.
Give taxpayer money to get an automotive plant in Ontario. The lucky few who get jobs at the plant will have their generous wages and benefits paid for by a subsidy from all the other Canadians who do not work there. Every other person in Canada is poorer by the amount of the subsidy to those fortunate few.
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